Owed Money

wallace7

I had a litter of puppies who went to their new homes 6 months ago. Everyone paid for their pups in cash with the exception of one person. He told me he was a dog handler in the army and that the dog would be trained in the army and could he pay with an army cheque. I naively agreed. The cheque was returned to me by the bank as unpaid. I have the lads address (if its genuine), his phone number and he is a 'friend' on facebook. I speak to him and he tells me he will pay but never does. It has been going on for months now. If he lived near enough I would have gone round and taken the pup by now, but he is a 4 hour drive away. Its not a large amount of money only £350 but its the principle and also I worry about the welfare of the pup as he is clearly not a trustworthy person and it is a living animal not just a material item. I don't know what/where to go from here. What would others do? Any advice/thought welcome.

InsideInsurance

An army cheque?

I am no expert on the Army's purchasing processes but it feels odd that a squady randomly selects a vendor and can just pay for something with "an army cheque"

Have you dont any basic checks on the name/ address he gave you?

wallace7

Thanks for your reply. Yes its something called a 'Holts' account. The cheque has his name on, its some sort of account people serving the army have. I have checked his address on google maps, its a genuine address - whether he lives there or not I dont know though !! His facebook account has photos of him in the army etc so I think these aspects of his life are genuine. I suppose there isnt much I can do I have just been naive! I was wondering if I might somehow be able to contact the army and make a complaint about him - surely they dont like their 'staff' conning people like this and saying that the dog was for him to train in the army also. I just dont know who/how to contact the army?

wealdroam

wallace7 wrote: »

I was wondering if I might somehow be able to contact the army and make a complaint about him - surely they dont like their 'staff' conning people like this and saying that the dog was for him to train in the army also. I just dont know who/how to contact the army?

You could try asking on the Armed Forces Board.

JethroUK

wallace7 wrote: »

I had a litter of puppies who went to their new homes 6 months ago. Everyone paid for their pups in cash with the exception of one person. He told me he was a dog handler in the army and that the dog would be trained in the army and could he pay with an army cheque. I naively agreed. The cheque was returned to me by the bank as unpaid. I have the lads address (if its genuine), his phone number and he is a 'friend' on facebook. I speak to him and he tells me he will pay but never does. It has been going on for months now. If he lived near enough I would have gone round and taken the pup by now, but he is a 4 hour drive away. Its not a large amount of money only £350 but its the principle and also I worry about the welfare of the pup as he is clearly not a trustworthy person and it is a living animal not just a material item. I don't know what/where to go from here. What would others do? Any advice/thought welcome.

A signed cheque is a promise to pay just like hard cash (doesn't matter whether it's an army cheque or a toy town cheque if he signed it then he was the one who promised to pay)

If the cheque is not honoured for whatever reason it's clear fraud case

It's the same as if he had given you forged bank notes and you persue it the same way

My Dad used to own a shop and the cases were so clear cut his solicitor charged him a fixed fee of just £19 for a letter to pay up face fraud charges in court

All but one paid up and that person did end up in court, lost the case in under 5 minutes facing full payment and court cost of £60

Nodding_Donkey

Nice to see you were careful about who you sold the puppies to.

Not

The army don't train puppies, adult dogs, already trained to a basic level, are donated to them.

A simple check online would have told you this.

dacouch

If you know which Army Unit he's in, it may be worth contacting his commanding officer.

I'm not sure if it's still the case as I've not dealt with the military for some time. But the C.O's have high expectations of their unit and do not take kindly to dishonourable actions.

Littleoldme

Holts is a "banking service" offered by RBS for service personnel so the cheque was no different than a personal cheque from anyone else.

robatwork

Piece of cake - you have his address and proof of intended payment:

https://www.gov.uk/make-money-claim-online

NotRichAtAll

I cannot belive you gave a puppy to a person in exchange for a cheque, i also cannot believe that with all the information you have you need to come on here and ask what to do.
if you consider a 4hr drive to long to go then you really deserve no help whatsoever in my opinion. If it was my pup and i was £350 down i would of been round the guy's barracks like a shot.
Nice to see your a responsible puppy trader.............

http://i.imgur.com/EcJh86W.gif

oh also you need to understand all these months you have been sat round talking to the "lad" on facebook the pup is no longer a pup its a dog now and if its down to principle like i said above a 4hr drive would of been nothing in my book. You asked for advice and thoughts, so there you are.

macman

You've waited far too long, stop messing around with him on Facebook-that is not the way to recover bad debts!
Send an LBA by recorded delivery, saying that you will seek the full sum outstanding, plus interest and costs, via an action in the small claims court if full payment is not received within 14 days. If he does not comply, then go the small claims route.
This is a civil matter and nothing to do with his employers.